Clashes continue on the border between Lebanon and Israel. The armed movement Hezbollah reported early in the morning of Saturday October 5 that it was engaged in fighting against Israeli troops in this area, at a time when new explosions were ringing out in the southern suburbs of Beirut. Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, had warned the day before that his allies, mainly Lebanese Hezbollah and Palestinian Hamas, would continue fighting against Israel. On alert in the face of Israeli operations, Hezbollah also says it has targeted troops in the Yarun region, in southern Lebanon, with a “rocket salvo”as well as soldiers on the Israeli side. Follow our live stream.
New bombings reported in Beirut. A series of explosions were heard overnight from Friday to Saturday in the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital, known as a historic stronghold of Hezbollah, according to AFP correspondents, after the Israeli army issued orders to evacuation for certain sectors. Friday evening, the spokesperson for the Israeli army in Arabic, Avishay Adrae, had indeed alert residents of neighborhoods Burj el-Barajneh and Haret Hreik of imminent operations on “Hezbollah installations and interests”, ordering these residents to stay away “at least 500 meters” designated sites.
The Lebanese government fears that the country will become “a new Gaza”. The Lebanese Minister of Information, Ziad Makary, described“disgusting” the intensive bombing of Lebanon by Israel for more than a week. Speaking as part of the 19th summit of the Francophonie, he said he had “fear of a new Gaza in Lebanon”. “We always think that there is a little hope on the diplomatic side because Lebanon is bombed every day. Beirut is bombed every day, every night, for 24 hours. The Bekaa, Mount Lebanon, the South”he recalled, specifying that his government “is counting a lot on France” to establish a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.
Demonstrations banned in Israel. The recent surge in Hezbollah rocket fire, the Jaffa attack and the Iranian airstrike on Tuesday have prompted Israeli authorities to impose serious restrictions on public gatherings. The demonstrations usually organized on Saturday evening, in Tel Aviv in particular, to demand the return of Israeli hostages and a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip will therefore not be authorized, a rare situation since the start of the conflict in the wake of the Hamas terrorist attack in Israel, on October 7, 2023.
Joe Biden dismisses the idea of strikes on oil sites in Iran. The US president said Israel must “consider other options” than to strike oil sites in Iran, after having admitted the day before that this possibility was in “discussions”. “If I were in their place, I would consider other options than hitting oil fields” in Iran, declared the Democratic head of state during an exchange with the press at the White House. For his part, Republican candidate Donald Trump called for going even further. “The answer should have been ‘hit nuclear first and worry about the rest later,'” he said at a meeting in North Carolina.